Illini

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT ILLINI - PAGE 5

Danny Ferry is taller and better looking than Andrew Gaze. Loy Vaught is quite a bit beefier than Kenny Battle. Yet when the semifinal opponents in today's NCAA Final Four look at each other, they see quite a bit of themselves. Seldom has a Final Four produced semifinal games matching such similar styles. Duke and Seton Hall play unyielding man-to-man defense, are fundamentally sound and are comfortable playing any tempo, from walk-it-up, half-court to a controlled fast break.

Duke, an NCAA tournament staple, rode a postseason rookie to the Atlanta Regional final. Forward Luol Deng, a freshman from New Jersey by way of England, Egypt and the Sudan, scored 18 points Friday to lead the top-seeded Blue Devils past Illinois 72-62 in a regional semifinal at the Georgia Dome. This is the seventh consecutive season that Duke advanced to a regional semifinal. The Blue Devils lost in this round the past two years, to Indiana and Kansas, respectively. J.J. Redick missed 14 of his 16 shots in the Kansas defeat.

So, the coach asked the reporter over breakfast Sunday, who's the better story? Illinois or North Carolina? Now there's a twist. As if comparing the personnel of college basketball's premier teams wasn't difficult enough. Now we're going to judge them like movie scripts? Rate the appeal of their trials and tribulations as they brace for tonight's national championship game? Hey, why not? North Carolina is, literally and figuratively, the blueblood. This is the Tar Heels' 16th Final Four, a record, and their eighth national title game.

On the outside, the last 10 years have been gentle to John Mackovic. There is a touch of gray at the temples and the lines in his face give him look more wizened and peaceful than middle-age harried. Gone are the piercing intensity and quick-to-correct temper he displayed while coaching at his alma mater, Wake Forest. He no longer tells stories about Brian Piccolo, who was his teammate at Wake Forest in the early Sixties. He is no longer a young man, trying to control his surroundings.

Carl Perry has not let being the best high school wrestler in Hampton Roads this year cause him stress. The Great Bridge 130-pounder, chosen Most Outstanding Wrestler at last year's Virginia Duals, already has signed with the University of Illinois. After the Duals ended Saturday, he had won 69 consecutive matches and had not lost since the state championship final in his sophomore year. Perry is ranked No. 1 in the nation at 130 pounds by Center Mat magazine. He operates with a singular focus and says all the fanfare surrounding him doesn't bother him. "You've just got to go out and wrestle; that's my job, and that's all I've got to do," Perry said.

HEADLINERS Eddie George: Say hello to the Heisman Trophy frontrunner. George, Ohio State's senior tailback, ran for a school record 314 yards in a 41-3 victory against Illinois. The Illini entered the game with the nation's No. 14 rushing defense, bookended by touted linebackers Simeon Rice and Kevin Hardy, and allowing 107.9 yards per game. George's performance vaults him past a crowded field that includes quarterbacks Tommie Frazier of Nebraska, Danny Wuerffel of Florida and Peyton Manning of Tennessee.

NBA PLAYOFFS. The scoring outputs this weekend of Philadelphia's Allen Iverson, Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki, Orlando's Tracy McGrady, Boston's Paul Pierce and Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal of the Lakers prove that it's crucial to have players who can get points, especially in the playoffs when the defenses are tighter and the game generally slows to the half-court variety. And, perhaps the first-round series will be close ones with Boston, Orlando, the Lakers and Phoenix earning road victories.

NO. 3 TEXAS (25-7) VS. NO. 7 XAVIER (25-10) TIME: 7:27 p.m. WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Texas has the deepest bench in the tournament and a stable of talented big men, but that won't matter unless the Longhorns can adequately defend Xavier Gs Lionel Chalmers, Romain Sato and Dedric Finn. Chalmers has been on fire in the tourney (56 points on 19-of-26 shooting in two games) and will cause problems for Texas because of his quickness and outside shooting. Texas lacks a true point man and will have problems with the Musketeers' defensive pressure.

It isn't the mega-expansion everyone had expected, but the NCAA plans to proceed with changes to the men's basketball tournament. After talk about a 96-team field, the NCAA expects to expand the tournament from 65 to 68 teams beginning next season after reaching a 14-year, $10.8 billion agreement with CBS and Turner Broadcasting. On Wednesday, the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee unanimously passed a recommendation to increase the tournament field size, and the recommendation will be reviewed by the Board of Directors at its meeting on Thursday.

Traveling, as long as it's off the court, is desirable for the latest recruits for William and Mary and Old Dominion. The Tribe received a commitment from Justin Jackette, a 6-foot-2 guard from the New York City suburbs, while the Monarchs landed Pierre Greene, a 6-2 guard from Chicago. Jackette, who plays at Iona Prep in New Rochelle, N.Y., and for the prestigious Riverside Church AAU team in New York City, chose William and Mary over St. Bonaventure, Colorado State, Manhattan and Virginia Tech.